The present invention relates to stabilized superconductors and more particularly the invention relates to improvements in the making of superconductors in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,315 (Ser. No. 444,568 filed Feb. 21, 1974) of common assignee.
A stabilized superconductor is usually a compound conductor assembly in which a first layer is made of material regarded as being a superconductor and a second, thicker layer is made of a regular conductor so that in the case of failure of the superconductor (e.g. dropout of the cooling medium) current flow can be shifted to the thicker conductor (e.g. copper) at least for a period of time that is sufficient to trigger a circuit breaker.
The above-mentioned patent describes a method for making such a stabilized superconductor, wherein a tape or ribbon of niobium or a niobium alloy is first provided with a copper layer by brushing copper particles into the tape, and subsequently copper is electrolytically deposited onto the tape's surface which was covered by copper particles. The purpose thereof was to enhance the bond between niobium and copper.